Tropical Storm Beta Forecast to Make Landfall Late Monday

Steve and Linda Buser of Beaumont check out the rough surf on the beach near the intersection of Highway 124 and Highway 87 on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas, on Sept. 20, 2020. Fran Ruchalski/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP

HOUSTON—Parts of Texas and Louisiana braced Monday for flooding and damaging storm surge as Tropical Storm Beta slowly worked its way into a part of the country that’s already been drenched and battered during this year’s exceptionally busy hurricane season.

The storm was no longer expected to gain hurricane strength and forecasters decreased estimated rainfall totals from Beta early Monday, saying in a U.S. National Hurricane Center advisory that up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain could fall in some areas. That’s down from earlier predictions of up to 20 inches (51 centimeters).